CHRONICLES OF ITUNU – THE BIRTHDAY PARTY 9

“I know right. I know…. I even micro- waved it just for you, I. T” Samuel said smiling heartily.

Was he blushing? Abi oloriburuku ni Sam yii ni. She has entered it today.She told herself She remained fixated with the smile on her face. She opened her mouth to talk, but Samuel stopped her once again.

” I know. I know. I saved the last slice for you, princess. Thank me later.” Sam said gleefully, tapping her shoulders.

Her life was simple, yet complicated. She tried to explain to people, that there are two itunus, the itunu on the inside and the one on the outside. Half of the time, what she did was entirely different from what she really wanted to do and she believed the average person was like that. She thought hard of how it would feel to just shout like the itunu on the inside was shouting loud to Sam.

“You are not smart. O gbon! Samuel! O stupid gaan. Aye mi o.How? Samuel! How would you become a productive member of the society, if you deem pizza, food ? Princess Oribuwo were you calling me? ” But she kept smiling on the outside.

At least, Semo…would have been appreciated. To think that she was going soft for this person .Feeling bad about not giving him face. Eba that she did not even consider would have made her smile genuinely. It would have settled her stomach.

BUT she was too tired to speak. She had to conserve her energy. “Thank you” Itunu said instead.

He so looked proud of himself. “Enjoy! Princess. ” he said, winked and walked out of the room.

She could cry now. Wow. Was this a prank or a joke? She was lost. Samuel actually walked away without stopping. He winked at her. Maybe it was a prank?? Maybe it was and she did not know… Ha. It had better be. It had to be.

Was it it a test or a proposal? Maybe it’s not even a party? If it was a proposal, the way she would shout no and drop the plate on his head. He would think it was from his village that they were doing him .No, the boy might be foreign in his outlook,but he was not stupid enough to make a catastrophic proposal, so she discarded the thought from her mind.

Let it be a joke o. See her dreaming of Iyan and condemning wheat. She shook her head. Today was just somehow.

She stared at the door for a short while. She hoped that he would jump out from somewhere and shout ” Suprise! Suprise. It was a joke. Here is your food. Like actual food.” But; Samuel did not show up or reappear. It was not a joke o. She laughed.

She was confused as to how exactly pizza was food? Who put pizza in a plate, in a bowl, nitori olohun ? Who warms pizza covers it and places it in a tray? Who does not have food at his birthday party? The worst part is everyone else seemed to be okay with the nonsense going on…

Once again, she had expected a something great from today and she got this…

She stared at the sole, forlorn and sad slice of pizza in her hand and consoled herself as she put it in her mouth and chewed. She took her time to chew on each bite. It was something after all and she should be grateful. It tasted nice. It was a warm piece. She was grateful, but it felt like using a bathing sponge as a fishing net in the sea. Hopeless.

Her stomach was quiet at least.

She would just wait for Gloria and immediately Gloria arrived, they would leave here. Where was Gloria?

She even had clothes on the line to pack back at the hostel. At least washing her clothes was one good thing she had achieved today. She told herself as she took the plate to the kitchen after she was done eating and came back.

She would just drink some more punch. She was still hungry and now she was at the brink of exhaustion. She would still enjoy today no matter what. She told herself. She did not want to leave her bag unguarded for too long.

Friends of Sam did not mean they were of the same pocket level of Sam and it did not mean much if they were. Rich people stole too. Her purse was not inside her bag, but her phone was and she had purchased it with her hard-earned money after saving.
She prayed to God her purse was safe wherever it was. She tried to think of anywhere else she might have left it, but nowhere else came to mind. She was almost sure she left it at the cafeteria. She remembered the episode she had with the idiot Gloria had referred to as Ola and a form of nausea came over her. She shrugged. If it was somebody like Adewale now, it would be a different matter.

She got to the room and picked up her bag and sat down. It was then she heard the thump tip pat sounds like raindrops. She was not sure if it was rain because of the music. It could not be rain. She checked outside the window to ascertain if it was what she was thinking.

Alas, she was right and it was raining. “My clothes!” Itunu shouted and covered her mouth. She had to stop behaving uncivilized. She stamped her feet on the ground. No one would help her. No one knew when she was washing. She picked up her phone and called her next door neighbor, Chiamaka.

It was light drizzle. If someone could get to them on time.

Her line was unreachable, so she sent her a text message. She prayed she would see it or else her day was fruitless. She was wrong about the day getting any worse. What was she going to do?

Her travail on those clothes would be wasted as she did not clip them to the line, so there was tendency that they would fall down from the line and she would have to wash them all over again. The drizzle stopped suddenly. She smiled.

“Thank you, Jesus. ” she said.

She tried Gloria’s line. It was also not reacheable. This was the best time to leave.

The rain had stopped.

She put her bag around her neck and got up. She figured that she would wait at the gate or estate juncture for Gloria and would leave once Gloria appeared.